Grassroots Advocacy: A structural intervention for vulnerable populations

LGBT populations and Lesbian women in particular experience increased substance use and a myriad of other health disparities related to their sexuality. The socio structural factors that propagate widespread discrimination against these populations contribute to such disparities. As a result, sexual minority and racial minority groups are subject to rabid criminalization and over policing.

One of the U.S.’s most significant efforts to police its citizens is the failed drug war. African American Lesbian women face increased incarceration, given targeted surveillance in African American communities and discriminatory policing of LGBT populations resulting from America’s drug war.

Transgender, African American women also face the consequences of criminalizing sexuality, as they are often arrested and jailed based on the assumption that they are involved in sex work.

As the state with the highest incarceration rates in the world, Louisianans are presented with a unique set of challenges in trying to shift conversations and practice to health modalities instead of carceral solutions. Ongoing work housed at Women With a Vision in New Orleans, seeks to provide specific solutions to the health problems related to mass incarceration among Lesbian and Trans* women.

Vulnerable populations often hold the solutions to their own health problems but are excluded from discussions to develop and disseminate appropriate modalities. Grassroots advocacy is essential to encourage the inclusion of vulnerable populations and can be employed widely to inform changes in the current trend toward mass incarceration over health strategies.